DALLAS – LAWFUEL – Legal News Network – Bill Mateja, a principal in the Dallas office of Fish & Richardson P.C., has been appointed to the State Bar of Texas’ standing committee on Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
The committee is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations concerning revisions to the state’s ethic rules for attorneys. The 27-member committee welcomed only four new members for the current term. Mr. Mateja’s term, effective immediately, continues through 2009.
Among the pressing matters facing the committee is a reexamination of the “Ethics 2000” program which addresses the Model Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers and the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. A recommendation on changes is due to the Supreme Court of Texas by November.
“We’ve been asked to perform a painstaking review of Texas’ ethics rules,” says Mr. Mateja. “It’s a daunting task, but the ethical integrity of the legal profession is of paramount importance and worth the effort being invested.”
Prior to joining Fish & Richardson in 2005, Mr. Mateja served as Senior Counsel to Deputy Attorneys General Larry Thompson and James Comey in Washington, D.C. During his tenure at Main Justice, he oversaw the Justice Department’s corporate and health care fraud efforts, and served as the point person for President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force.
His current practice includes assisting corporate clients in internal investigations, as well as defending clients in criminal cases and government regulatory and enforcement actions. He advises clients on compliance, enforcement and Sarbanes-Oxley matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Founded in 1878, Fish & Richardson is one of the largest law firms in the U.S. practicing exclusively in the areas of intellectual property, litigation and corporate law. The firm has more than 370 attorneys and technology specialists in 10 offices nationwide. Fish & Richardson has long represented great innovators and entrepreneurs, including pioneering inventors such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and the Wright Brothers. Fish & Richardson handles more patent litigation than any other law firm in the U.S. (IP Law & Business July 2005). It is the top firm in patent cases at the International Trade Commission and rates among the top U.S. firms in patents and trademarks obtained.
